Pas, on disembarking: Howdy Neighbor

James Jordan · 12 Mar 2001, 16:45 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: James Jordan <jbjordan4 at home.com>
Subject: Re: (whorl) Pas, on disembarking: Howdy Neighbor
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 16:45:05
Message-ID: <whorl-v0012-0435 at digest.urth.net>
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At 12:14 PM 3/12/2001 -0600, Scratched Two-Headed Borski wrote:

>Gamemeister Maroney (Unplugged) having asked:
>
><Why would we believe that Pas is a Neighbor?>
>
>Well, as I've been arguing for some time now, I believe this notion answers
>more questions than it generates.

         I'll take the opposite view. More problems than answers.
         1. Typhon has a human wife and human children and a human lover, n=
o?
         1a. They are wife/lover/children of his first body, therefore he's=20
human.
         1b. They are wife/lover/children of his second, grafted body; so=20
maybe he wasn't human to begin with.
         1c. This is not Wolfe but Star Trek, and humans intermarry with=20
aliens all the time!!!!

         2. Typhon's original head is not said, from my memory, to have any=20
unusual characteristics that might make us think it was a Neighbor head.=20
Okay, Wolfe dreamed up the Neighbors later on, but in that case we'd expect=20
Pas to be described as having one weird head. Don't recall any such thing.

         3. I cannot recall evidence that Neighbors have two heads. Neither=20
Babbie nor any of the other indigenous lifeforms of Blue do, do they? Have=20
I forgotten something here? Even if they do, my other arguments still stand=20
(for me, today).
         3a. It's simpler, for me today, to think that Pas has two heads=20
because by the time the Whorl was sent, Typhon's original body had died and=20
he'd grafted his head onto the second human body.

         4. If Typhon wanted to Do Something About The Inhumi, why weren't=20
the armies of taluses and chems the first ones on board of the landers?=20
They'd be the Marines, sent in to clean up Green and Blue, not only because=20
they are soldiers but also because they'd be immune to the inhumi. That=20
does not happen, and remember that Pas is alive and well by the time the=20
landers are sent to implement the Plan of Pas.
         4a. Okay, the Whorl arrives, and Pas learns that the Neighbors=20
have gone. Well, all the more reason to send in the chems and taluses to=20
clean up the inhumi before the human settlers arrive, or in tandem with the=
m.
         4b. Okay, Pas did not realize the inhumi would prey on the humans,=20
because he was asleep when they came aboard the Whorl and was not aware=20
that they could. Well, he found out later on that the inhumi were preying=20
on humans, if not before, then from Horn; but probably as soon as he=20
resurrected and chatted with his sons and daughters. So why not send in the=20
chems then?

         5. Well, maybe Typhon/Pas HATED the Neighbors, and the chems and=20
taluses were to fight the Neighbors. When he learned they were gone, he=20
kept the robot armies on the Whorl.
         5a. That means Typhon is either a Rogue Neighbor who hates the=20
other Neighbors, or a human. I much favor the latter, for the reasons given=20
above.

         Now, I'm game to the suggestion that Typhon knew about the=20
Neighbor system, and sent the Whorl there first. Humans have been in space=20
for a long time, and surely this system was known, in which case Typhon=20
selected it for some reason. But given the presence of aliens on Urth, he=20
could have done so for other reasons, perhaps:
         (a) He knew that the Neighbors were vacating these planets, and=20
thus that they were ripe for colonists.
         (b) He had a deal with the Neighbors; but in that case, why not=20
sent in the chems and taluses?
         (c) He hated the Neighbors and wanted to take over their homeworld=
s.
I favor (a).

         Well, in terms of (a), why didn't Pas send in the Robot Armies to=20
wipe out the inhumi? That's a good question. At this point, I can only=20
assume that the Plan of Pas means humans must fend for themselves. Which=20
carries this corollary: That the robots are only for the Whorl, and the=20
Whorl was planned all along to make more than one stop.

Patera One-headed Nutria


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